Golden Pheasant

birds · China · colorful

Golden crown. The golden pheasant has a brilliant golden crest on its head that looks like a glowing crown. Its scientific name actually means 'with golden crest' in Ancient Greek.

Painted perfection. This bird is covered in bright colors including crimson red, emerald green, and golden yellow feathers. The Latin name 'pictus' means 'painted' because it looks like an artist decorated it.

Chinese native. The golden pheasant comes from the mountains of China, where it lives in dense forests and bamboo groves. It's also called the Chinese pheasant because of where it originally comes from.

Game bird family. Golden pheasants belong to the same family as other pheasants and chickens called Phasianidae. They're part of an order of birds called Galliformes that includes many ground-dwelling birds.

Rainbow appearance. Another name for this bird is the rainbow pheasant because its feathers shimmer with so many different bright colors. No two feathers look quite the same.